Baripada: In a fresh incident of human-animal conflict, two personnel of the Forest department were critically injured after being attacked by a wild elephant at a village in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district on Monday.
The incident took place near Benapura village under the Betonati forest range of Baripada division in the district.
The victims have been identified as Badampur forester Pradip Dehury and Jateen Kisku, a contractual protection assistant.
Baripada DFO Santosh Kumar Joshi said both the injured forest personnel have been admitted to hospital for treatment following the incident.
According to sources, the incident took place when the forest personnel were trying to chase away an elephant calf that had entered a house in the village. Another adult elephant roaming the area rushed to the spot and attacked the two, causing them grievous injuries.
The two were immediately rushed to PRM Medical College and Hospital in Baripada for treatment.
The incident has sparked anger among locals who sought concrete steps to prevent elephant attacks in the area.
